How does it feel to reach the age your Mum was when she died? Jo Morris has talked to 3 women who feel a clock ticking. Their stories are all different but they have one thing in common – none of them have felt able to talk about this before. They didn’t want to worry their loved ones or vocalise difficult thoughts.

As the cost of living crisis worsens for families across the country, workers have been voting for industrial action over below-inflation pay offers in what many are describing as the “summer of discontent”. They include transport workers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, teachers, postal workers, civil servants, lawyers and British Telecoms engineers. Women are in some of the lowest paid jobs and now make up the majority of trade union members. We speak to Christina McAnea General Secretary of the UK’s largest union - UNISON – and also to Sarah Boston, author of Women Workers and the Trade Unions. We investigate what role women are playing in both the movement and the strikes.

Presented by Emma Barnett
Producer Beverley Purcell